Throughout my life, I have been often chosen to represent a group of my peers in everything from the elementary school spelling bee, college initiatives as well as work, civic, and legal presentations. My public speaking abilities developed through years of observation of other excellent speakers, one of whom is my mother who was an elected official. I also became an experienced speaker through many opportunities to present issues impacting communities since high school. As a long-term emergency certified teacher, I became active in lobbying for educational issues such as teacher pay and school funding in Arizona which led me to work on political campaigns for state and nationwide candidates who also believe strongly in quality education for all children in this country. Some say I am a naturally persuasive speaker, that I speak passionately; however it is much more work than people realize. I research my topics before speaking, something I have done for various politicos.
If you want to change something in one direction or another, you had better have your facts straight before adding your own personal twist to the conversation. I also learned to try to speak about issues that are important to you and that you have personal knowledge of or you may appear insincere, which is why so many politicians look like they are speaking about space aliens or have grimaces in photo ops when appearing with impoverished citizens while discussing poverty related issues for example because many politicians have never faced or touched poverty themselves. Proof of my speaking abilities are being chosen by various groups to campaign for issues important to those groups, everything from helping a gubernatorial or presidential candidate to succeed in a voting district, helping promote rights for women and girls, and stopping the of the misuse of the environment and its resources as I did in Mesa, AZ when I convinced the mayor and city council through stacks of research and argument to not go through with a huge water project in the desert city which would have dried a natural estuary, displaced animals, and impose unreasonable water restrictions for residents and businesses. The water park project, it was decided, would do more harm than good. I was chosen to be in the Mesa Leadership Program by the mayor and city council a short time later that year. Feel free to google video media footage of my public speaking and advocacy.
Lara, A lot of good thinking/reflection here. Not surprising for someone who has already written her memoir. I think that you can strengthen this page with a little organization Can you break up your account into three main features of your expertise in public speaking, e.g. when did you realize that you were building this ability, what you do to prepare, how you developed your ability and courage, etc? How do you see your talents shaping your experience as a teacher, especially in this current educational climate? An introduction and an conclusion would preview and emphasize your take-away points. Let me know if you choose to revise so that I can re-read! - Jay
PS: Have you watched Karen Lewis, the head of the teacher's union in Chicago on youtube?
If you want to change something in one direction or another, you had better have your facts straight before adding your own personal twist to the conversation. I also learned to try to speak about issues that are important to you and that you have personal knowledge of or you may appear insincere, which is why so many politicians look like they are speaking about space aliens or have grimaces in photo ops when appearing with impoverished citizens while discussing poverty related issues for example because many politicians have never faced or touched poverty themselves. Proof of my speaking abilities are being chosen by various groups to campaign for issues important to those groups, everything from helping a gubernatorial or presidential candidate to succeed in a voting district, helping promote rights for women and girls, and stopping the of the misuse of the environment and its resources as I did in Mesa, AZ when I convinced the mayor and city council through stacks of research and argument to not go through with a huge water project in the desert city which would have dried a natural estuary, displaced animals, and impose unreasonable water restrictions for residents and businesses. The water park project, it was decided, would do more harm than good. I was chosen to be in the Mesa Leadership Program by the mayor and city council a short time later that year. Feel free to google video media footage of my public speaking and advocacy.
Lara, A lot of good thinking/reflection here. Not surprising for someone who has already written her memoir. I think that you can strengthen this page with a little organization Can you break up your account into three main features of your expertise in public speaking, e.g. when did you realize that you were building this ability, what you do to prepare, how you developed your ability and courage, etc? How do you see your talents shaping your experience as a teacher, especially in this current educational climate? An introduction and an conclusion would preview and emphasize your take-away points. Let me know if you choose to revise so that I can re-read! - Jay
PS: Have you watched Karen Lewis, the head of the teacher's union in Chicago on youtube?